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It could be construed as a black day for the English language â but not if you
work in the public sector.

Dozens of quangos and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of
common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp
out racism and sexism are âwhiter than whiteâ, âgentlemanâs agreementâ,
âblack markâ and âright-hand manâ.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the
phrase âblack dayâ with âmiserable dayâ, according to documents released
under freedom of information rules.

It points out that certain words carry with them a âhierarchical valuation of
skin colourâ. The commission even urges employees to be mindful of the term
âethnic minorityâ because it can imply âsomething smaller and less
importantâ.

The National Gallery in London believes that the phrase âgentlemanâs
agreementâ is potentially offensive to women and suggests that staff should
replace it with âunwritten agreementâ or âan agreement based on trustâ
instead. The term âright-hand manâ is also considered taboo by the gallery,
with âsecond in commandâ being deemed more suitable.

Many institutions have urged their workforce to be mindful of âgender biasâ in
language. The Learning and Skills Council wants staff to âperfectâ their
brief rather than âmasterâ it, while the Newcastle University has singled
out the phrase âmaster bedroomâ as being problematic.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency states: âTerms
such as âblack sheep of the familyâ, âblack looksâ and âblack markâ have no
direct link to skin colour but potentially serve to reinforce a negative
view of all things black. Equally, certain terms imply a negative image of
âblackâ by reinforcing the positive aspects of white.

âFor example, in the context of being above suspicion, the phrase âwhiter than
whiteâ is often used. Purer than pure or cleaner than clean are alternatives
which do not infer that anything other than white should be regarded with
suspicion.â

The clampdown in the public sector has angered some of the countryâs most
popular writers.

Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider childrenâs spy books, said: âA
great deal of our modern language is based on traditions which have now gone
but it would be silly â and extremely inconvenient â to replace them all. A
âwhite collar workerâ, for example, probably doesnât wear one. An âable
seamanâ, under new regulations, could well be neither. âSpanish practicesâ
can happen all over Europe. We know what these phrases mean and we can find
out from where they were derived. Banning them is just unnecessary.â

Marie Clair, spokeswoman for the Plain English Campaign, said: âPolitical
correctness has good intentions but things can be taken to an extreme. What
is really needed is a bit of common sense.â

ugh, now this is the kinda crap that takes away from real issues. just crap, ridiculous. you know I don't think anyone that is a minority came up with this ... really. i think this is more oversensitive whites that minories ...

But I'm not Irish but who knows. But I wonder if the banning black thing has to do more with "black Irish" ? I dunno could be off.

ugh, now this is the kinda crap that takes away from real issues. just crap, ridiculous. you know I don't think anyone that is a minority came up with this ... really. i think this is more oversensitive whites that minories ...

But I'm not Irish but who knows. But I wonder if the banning black thing has to do more with "black Irish" ? I dunno could be off.

Oh another question- doesn't a 'black day' in business mean a good day? Like Black Friday after Thanksgiving? Because they make alot of profits that day and are in the black as opposed to in the red for the day? Just asking.

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